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Grow Your Platform with Live Video 2/21/2018 9:00:00 AM by: Andy Lee

Whether we like it or not, video, especially live video, is becoming increasingly popular.

Statistics prove this. (Sit down if you aren’t already.) According to an article on LiveStream.com,

Live video is more appealing to brand audiences: 80% would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog, and 82% prefer live video from a brand to social posts.

There are exceptions to every statistic, but 80% is a huge percentage. Look at this stat also from Livestream.com:

78% of online audiences are already (in 2016) watching video on Facebook Live. 90% think video quality is the most important aspect of Facebook Live videos.

Now that we know the demand, we can embrace it and grow our platforms, or we can sit back, and let fear stop us.

I started using live video when Periscope arrived. After a few Moses moments with God telling Him how much I hated my voice, He said, “Well, Andy, you’ve asked for more speaking opportunities. Here you go.”

So I did. I think it was the fall of 2016. (The dates are a little fuzzy.)

But most of my tribe is on Facebook. So, when FacebookLive was born, I left Periscope. You need to know where your tribe hangs out on social media. I love Intagram, and I do invite my Instagram peeps to my FB Live teaching, but my Live is always on Facebook.

One Thing Leads to the Other

Not all of my friends are Facebook people, so I started a YouTube channel to load my Live video when I was done. This saves the teaching and provides a way for my nonsocial-media followers to have access to my teaching.

Since starting my Live videos, my email list has doubled and my views on the videos and blog posts have tripled. It has definitely opened my accsessibility as viewers share thea videos and their friends become followers.

Caution

Before you go jump on the Live Video journey, there are some important things you need to know. Just like blogging or writing a book, there’s a learning curve to doing it with excellence. Long gone are the days of blog posts that simply journaled our day. Our followers are hungry for information. They want to know how to fix their marriages, parenting skills, job performance, weight gain, or faith crisis.

Compelling content is the primary motivator for live online viewing. (Livestream.com)

What can you offer your tribe on your Live videos that holds great value to them?

Come to my Workshop

If you are attending FCWC this week, and you are feeling the tug to live video, but you don’t have a clue and you relate to Moses as I did, come to my workshop, Building Your Platform with Live Video.

If I can do it, you can to.

Here’s a LIVE invite!

Andy Lee is the author of A Mary Like Me: Flawed Yet Called (Leafwood, 2016) and The Book of Ruth Key Word Bible Study: A 31-Day Journey to Hope and Promise (AMG, 2015). She’s a blogger, event speaker, Bible teacher, and Facebook Live entrepreneur. Andy is the managing editor of the FCWC blog and the president of the Wilmington, NC, Word Weavers chapter. Her articles have been featured in MTL magazine and CBN.com, and she is a monthly contributor to The Write Conversation blog. Andy digs deep to live fully on her site wordsbyandylee.com where she provides a weekly Bible reading plan called the Bite of Bread. Join hundreds of viewers on Facebook for her daily broadcast, an encouraging teaching about the “bite” or verse for the day. There’s nothing like a healthy breakfast for your soul.